Apparatus for mechanically removing the scale from the peripheral surface of a hot rolled wire material

ABSTRACT

A hot rolled wire material is first moved along a meandering path of travel defined by a plurality of sheaves to remove loose scale particles and is then brought into rubbing contact with rotating brushing wire wheels arranged around the run of the wire material in angularly and axially spaced relationship with each other with respect to the axis of the wire material so that the remaining scale is substantially completely removed. Each wire wheel has its plane of rotation inclined at an angle with respect to the run of the wire material.

United States Patent Nakamura et a1.

[54] APPARATUS FOR MECHANICALLY REMOVING THE SCALE FROM THE PERIPHERALSURFACE OF A HOT ROLLED WIRE MATERIAL [72] Inventors: Yoshimi Nakamura,Ashiya; l-leiiiro Kawakami, Kobe, both of Japan [73] Assignee: KobeSteel, Ltd., Kobe-shi, Japan [22] Filed: Oct. 30, 1970 [21] Appl. No.:85,341

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 31, 1969 Japan ..44/873ll[52] US. Cl ..15/88, 51/80 A, 134/9 [51] Int. Cl. ..A46b 13/02 [58]Field of Search ..l5/88, 77, 181, 97; 134/9; 29/81, 90; 51/80 R, 80 A[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,240,604 9/1917 Rasmesen,Jr ..15/l81 1,857,832 5/1932 Bailey ..51/80 A Nov. 14, 1972 2,260,78310/1941 Morley ..15/88 2,290,575 7/1942 Potter 15/1 81 2,620,496 12/1952Peignier 15/88 3,274,633 9/1966 Stevenson 15/88 3,432,971 3/1969 Conti..51/80 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 541,932 5/1922 France 1 5/88Primary ExaminerEdward L. Roberts Attorney-Oblon, Fisher, and SpivakABSTRACT A hot rolled wire material is first moved along a meanderingpath of travel defined by a plurality of sheaves to remove loose scaleparticles and is then brought into rubbing contact with rotatingbrushing wire wheels arranged around the run of the wire material inangularly and-axially spaced relationship with each other with respectto the axis of the wire material so that the remaining scale issubstantially completely removed. Each wire wheel has its plane ofrotation inclined at an angle with respect to the run of the wirematerial.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDNB 14 I97? 3.702.489

220 w INVENTORS YOSHIMI NAKAMURA Hemreo KAWAKAM! ATTORNEYS APPARATUS FORMECHANICALLY REMOVING THE SCALE FROM THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF A HOTROLLED WIRE MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention The present invention relates to a method of mechanicallyremoving the scale produced on the peripheral surface of a wire materialduring the hot rolling thereof and also to an apparatus for performingthe method.

2. Description of Prior Art Heretofore, a descaling of a hot rolled wirematerial is generally performed with a chemical process such as by useof a quantity of hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid which must bedisposed of as a waste material after use for a certain amount of time.The disposal of the wasted materials such as the mentioned acids and aneutralizing agent such as lime is recently governmentally regulated inthe viewpoint of environment sanitation or public health. In addition,the chemical processes require bulky equipments which inevitablyincrease the cost of the manufacture of the products.

Mechanical descaling methods have therefore been recently spotlightedfor the reason primarily that these methods are entirely free from theproblem of environment sanitation and that smaller apparatus may besufficient for these methods. Conventional mechanical descaling methodsare classified into:

i. A descaling method including the steps of subjecting a hot rolledwire material to repeated bendings by means of a plurality of sheaves,directing jets of air against the bent portions of the wire materialand/or bringing the wire material into rubbing contact with a polishingmaterial such as a sheet of steel wool wound around the peripheralsurface of the run of the wire material;

ii. A descaling method including the steps of subjecting a hot rolledwire material to repeated bendings by means of a plurality of sheavesand, thereafter, bringing the wire material into rubbing contact with abrush which is not only rotated about its axis but also moved around thewire material while the brush is held in contact with the wire material;and

iii. A descaling method including the steps of subjecting a hot rolledwire material to repeated bendings by means of a plurality of sheavesand, thereafter, causing the wire material to pass through a polishingbox or socalled scouring box or rotating barrel. However, all of theconventional mechanical descaling methods have shortcomings. Namely, themechanical descaling method (i) fails to perform a complete descaling.With the descaling method (ii), the peripheral speed of the brush incontact with a wire material to be descaled is limited by the design ofthe apparatus for performing the method. In order to obtain a peripheralspeed of the brush large enough to sufiiciently descale the wire, acomplicated mechanism is required for the apparatus. Thus, it isdifficult to manufacture a satisfactory apparatus. Furthermore, it hasbeen found that the descaling method (iii) also fails to perform acomplete descaling of a wire material. It will therefore be appreciatedthat, while the conventional mechanical descaling methods aresatisfactory in the viewpoint of environment sanitation, these methodsare inferior to the chemical methods with respect to the quality anddegree in the performance of descaling, with a result that the residualscale particles on the wire material treated with any of the mechanicaldescaling methods cause serious problems in subsequent working of thewire material. For example, if the mechanically descaled wire materialis formed into nails, the dies and knives used in the nail manufacturebecome damaged in a shorter period of operation. For the reasonsabovestated, the conventional mechanical descaling methods have notwidely been employed into practical use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to eliminate the above-discussedshortcomings and difficulties, the present invention contemplates amethod of mechanically removing the scale produced on the peripheralsurface of a wire material during the hot rolling thereof, which methodincludes the step of causing the wire material to come into successiverubbing contact at the peripheral surface thereof with at least threewire wheels which are arranged around the periphery of the wire materialin angularly spaced relationship with each other with-the plane ofrotation of each wire wheel being inclined at an angle with respect tothe run of the wire material. In a preferred embodiment of theinvention, the wire wheels may be driven to rotate in directionssubstantially opposite to the direction in which the wire material isadvanced. Prior to the rubbing contact with the brushing wire wheels,the wire material may preferably be subjected to repeated bendings bymeans of a plurality of sheaves so that loose scale particles areremoved. I

The present invention also contemplates an apparatus for use inperforming the method set forth above which comprises at least threewire wheels disposed around the wire material in angularly spacedrelationship with each other for rubbing contact with the peripheralsurface of the wire material, each of the wire wheels having its planeof rotation inclined at an angle with respect to the run of the wirematerial, means for supporting respective wire wheels in theabove-mentioned positions, and means for rotating the wire wheels.Preferably, the wire wheels may be rotated in directions substantiallyopposite to that of the wire advancement. Each of the wire wheels maypreferably be arranged such that the wire wheel is to be in contact withthe peripheral surface of the wire material substantially at the centralpoint of the thickness of the wire wheel, or in other words, the widthof the common peripheral surface of the wire wheel and that the radiusof the wire wheel included in a transverse plane and passing through thepoint of contact between the wire material and the wire wheel is inalignment with the radius of the wire material passing through saidpoint of contact, said transverse plane extending radially through saidcentral point.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a plurality of sheaves maybe disposed upstream of the brushing wire wheels and so arranged as todefine a meandering path of travel along which the wire material iscaused to move. The path of travel may advantageously be curved in atleast two radial directions of the wire material for subjecting .thewire material to repeated bending in such directions so that loose scaleparticles are removed at the point upstream of said brushing wirewheels.

The rotating means may be conventional electric motors upon the outputshafts of which the wire wheels are rigidly mounted for rotationtherewith, respectively. The electric motors may advantageously bemounted on a supporting means in such a manner that the wire wheels onthe motor shafts are positioned in the above-stated arrangement,respectively. In addition, means may be provided for adjusting theradial position of at least one of said wire wheels with respect to theaxis of the wire material to thereby adjust the pressure at which thewire wheels are in brushing contact with the wire material.

The supporting means may preferably be rod members which extendsubstantially in parallel with the run of the wire material. Each of therod members has its inner end rigidly-secured to one of the electricmotors and an outer end portion pivotally mounted on a machine frame ofthe apparatus. An arm, which is rigidly connected at one end to theouter end of the rod member, extends substantially in parallel with themachine frame. The adjusting means may preferably be adjusting screwmembers each threadably mounted on the machine frame and having aportion operatively connected to the other end of the arm so thatscrewing or rotation of the screw member is effective to pivotally movethe corresponding rod member with respectto the wire material wherebythe pressure at which the brushing wire wheels are in rubbing contactwith the wire material is advantageously adjusted.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wire wheels are'arrangedin spaced relationship also in the direction of the wire advancement.This arrangement conveniently eliminates any interference betweenrespective wire wheel units.

Each of the wire wheels may advantageously comprise a plurality ofdisc-like members assembled in substantially laminated relationship witheach other and a brushing bristle firmly secured to the outer peripheraledge portion of the disk-like assembly. In a preferred embodiment of theinvention, the bristle is' formed of a plurality of bundles of wire rodseach of which bundles is of substantially U-shaped configuration havingthe immediate or base portion of the U extending through one of aplurality of circumferentially spaced axial apertures formed in each ofthe disc-like members,-excepting the opposite outer ones, adjacent theperipheral edge thereof. The leg portions of each U- shaped wire bundleextend radially outwardly through the space or gap between the adjacentpair of disc-like members and are firmly held therebetween by means ofconventional fastening means, such as rivets or bolt and nut assemblies.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following description of a preferred embodiment of theinvention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

. DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates, partly in side elevationand partly in longitudinal section, an embodiment of the descaleraccording to the present invention with a part of the descaler beingomitted for the simplification of illustratron;

FIG. 2 is a schematic fragmentary perspective view of brushing wirewheels and motors thereof as viewed from an upstream point along the runof a wire material being treated;

FIG. 3 illustrates the angular arrangement of the plane of rotation ofone wire wheel with respect .to the run of a wire material;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the apparatus; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary radial sectional view of one wire wheel and theoutput shaft of the corresponding motor.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. 1 of thedrawings, a wire material W delivered from a hot rolling mill (notshown) is introduced into a descaling apparatus 10 of the presentinvention. The wire material W is passed through an inlet opening 11 ina. machine frame 12 of the apparatus to a first sheave 13 mounted on theframe within the housing of the apparatus adjacent the inlet opening 11.The wire material is partially wound around the sheave 13 and thendirected to a second sheave 14 mounted above the first sheave 13. Thewire is wound around the second sheave 14 substantially over 180 andthen is directed downwardly to a third sheave 15 mounted on an innerframe member 16 at a level lower than that of the first sheave 13. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the inner frame member 16 terminates shortof the base of the apparatus for reasons which will become apparentlater in this description.

The wire material W is then wound around the third sheave 15substantially over 180 (not illustrated) and then again upwardlydirected to a fourth sheave 17 which is also mounted on the inner framemember 16 generally at the same level as that of the first sheave 13.The wire material is wound around the fourth sheave 17 substantiallyover and is advanced therefrom through a passage of opening 18 in theframe member 16 into substantially tangential rolling contact with afifth sheave 19 which is mounted on the side of the frame member 16opposite to the side on-which the sheaves 15 and 17 are mounted. Thefourth and fifth sheaves 17 and 19 are arranged such that these sheavesguide the wire material W along a path of travel which is generallyaxially aligned with the path of travel of the wire material up to thefirst sheave 13.

In the illustrated embodiment, the fourth sheave 15 is arranged suchthat the axis thereof is substantially perpendicular to the axes ofother sheaves. It will, however, be appreciated that any otherarrangement of the sheaves may be employed as far as they are disposedto cause the wire material W to be advanced along a meandering pathwhich is advantageously curved in at least two radial directions, e.g.vertical and horizontal directions, for subjecting the wire material torepeated bending so that loose scale particles on the wire material areremoved therefrom by the bending.

The wire material W is further advanced and brought into rubbing contactwith brushing wire wheels of wire wheel units 20, 30 and 40 which aregenerally arranged around the run of the wire material in angularlyspaced relationship to each other as will be seen in FIG. 2. In theillustrated embodiment of the invention, the wire wheel units 20, 30 and40 are arranged in spaced relationship to one another also in thedirection of the wire travel as shown in FIG. 1. This arrangementadvantageously ensures that each of the units is prevented fromotherwise interfering with the operation of the other units.

As will be seen in FIG. 2, the unit 20 includes a wire wheel 21 and anelectric motor 22 for driving the wire wheel. Advantageously, the wirewheel is rotated .in the direction substantially opposite to thedirection in which the wire material W is advanced. Similarly, the units30 and 40 have wire wheels 31 and 41, respectively, which are driven byelectric motors 32 and 42, respectively. These wire wheel units arearranged in substantially the same manner with respect to the run of thewire material W and, for this reason, it will be sufficient to describethe arrangement of only one of the units 20 in this concern.

As best shown in FIG. 3, the wire wheel 21 of the unit 20 is positionedsuch that the plane of rotation of the wheel 21 represented by P isinclined atan angle with respect to the run of the wire material. In apreferred embodiment of the invention, moreover, the wheel 21 ispositioned with respect to the peripheral surface of the wire materialsuch that the radius of the wire wheel included in a transverse planeand passing through the point of contact between the wheel and the wirematerial is coincident with the radius of the wire material passingthrough the point of contact with the wire wheel, said transverse planeextending radially through the central point of the thickness of thewire wheel or, in other words, the width of the common peripheralsurface of the wire wheel 21. The angle a may be variable in accordancewith the number and speed of rotation of the brushing wire wheels, thelinear velocity and diameter of the wire material W being advanced, etc.It has been found that, in dealing with wire materials having diametersranging from 5.5 to 9.5 mm, a better result is obtainable when the anglea is in the order of V v The motors 22, 32 and 42 are mounted on theirsupports, only one of which 23 for the motor 22 is being illustrated inFIG. 1, so that the supports enable their wire wheels to be positionedin the afore-described arrangement with respect to the run of the wirematerial W. In the illustrated embodiment, the supports as representedby numeral 23 are in the form of rod members extending generally inparallel with the run of the wire material and having one or the innerends thereof rigidly secured to the motors 22, 32 and 42 (FIG. 1) whilethe other or outer end portions of the rod members extend rearwardly oroutwardly through the rear wall of the machine frame 12 and arepivotally mounted thereon by means of pairs of brackets 24, 34 and 44,respectively, as will be seen in FIG. 4.

At its outer end extremity, the rod member 23 is rigidly connected withan arm 23a extending substantially in parallel with the outer surface ofthe rear wall while the rod member 23 is pivotally mounted on themachine frame adjacent the connection with the arm 23a by means of apair of brackets'24 and a pin 24a (FIGS. 1 and 4). The other end of thearm 23a is operatively connected with a disc member 25 which is rigidlymounted on a screw member 26 threadably rotatably extending through therear wall of the machine frame into a nut 27 rigidly mounted on theinner surface of the wall, as will be seen in FIG. 1. The screw 26 has ahandle or wheel 28 rigidly mounted on the outer end thereof. It will beappreciated that the wheel 28 may be rotated in either direction topivotally move the arm 23a about the pivot pin 24a so that the angularposition of the rod member 23 with respect to the axis of the wirematerial is adjusted whereby the pressure at which the brushing wirewheels are in rubbing contact with the wire material is also adjusted.

The other wire wheel units 30 and 40 are substantially similarlysupported by their supporting rod members (not shown) which in turn arepivotally and adjustably mounted on the machine frame by means of pairsof brackets 34 and 44, pivot pins 34a and 44a and arms 33a and 43a, asshown in FIG. 4, and adjusting screws (not shown), respectively. It willbe appreciated that the rod members for supporting the wire wheel units30 and 40 are different only in the length or axial dimensions thereofbecause, as described hereinabove, the three wire wheel units are spacedin the direction of the travel of the wire material W.

Referring now to FIG. 5 of the drawings which is an enlarged fragmentaryradial sectional view of the wire wheel 21 of the wire wheel unit 20,the wire wheel 21 comprises a plurality of disc-like members 21a to 2leassembled substantially in laminated or stacked relationship with eachother and a brushing bristle, generally represented by 21f, rigidlysecured to the outer periphery of the assembly of the disc-like members.The bristle 21f is composed of a large number of bundles represented by21 f-1 and 21 f-2 of generally U- shaped wire rods. The wire bundleshave their intermediate or base portions of the U extending throughaxial apertures 21g-1 and 21g-2 formed in the disc members 21b and 21dalong concentric circles on the disc members adjacent the outerperipheral edges thereof. The wire bundles then extend radiallyoutwardly through the narrow gaps between adjacent pair of the discmembers 21a to 21e beyond the outer peripheral edges thereof. Theportions of the wire bundles 21f-1 and 21f-2 adjacent said intermediateportions of U are firmly held between the adjacent disclike members bymeans of conventional fastening means such as bolt and nut assemblies orrivets 21h which firmly fasten the marginal portions of the disc-likemembers together while the portions of the wire rods outward of theouter peripheral edges of the disc members extend generally radiallyoutwardly while somewhat diverging axially outwardly andcircumferentially of the disc members and terminate in a commonperipheral surface 21i.

It will be appreciated that, while the disc members 21b and 21d only areillustrated as being formed with axial apertures 21 g-1 and 21g-2 forthe wire bundles, the central disc member 210 may also be formed withsimilar apertures, in which case the apertures in the central discmember 21c may conveniently be disposed in circumferentially staggeredrelationship with the apertures in the disc members 21b and 21d for thereasons which will be self-explanatory to those skilled in the art.

The disc member assembly 21 has a central throughhole 21j for receivingan output shaft 22a of the motor 20. The output shaft 22a has a flange22b against which the assembly 21 is firmly urged by means of a washer22c and a nut 22d which is tightened to urge the washer 220 against thedisc assembly 21.

After the wire material W has been treated by the wire wheel 21, 31 and41, the wire material is delivered out of the apparatus through anoutlet opening 51 formed in the rear wall of the machine frame for afurther treatment such as stretching.

In the above-described and illustrated embodiment of the invention, eachwire wheel has a brush-like construction. It is, however, to beunderstood that any other construction may alternatively be employed.

Lastly, the apparatus 10 is provided adjacent the base thereof with abox or drawer 60 for receiving the scale particles removed off the wirematerial W. For this purpose, the above-mentioned inner frame member 16terminates in its bottom end which is positioned above the top of thedrawer 60.

The present invention is remarkably advantageous over the prior artchemical and mechanical descaling methods and apparatuses in that:

a. The method and apparatus of the invention are completely free fromthe environment sanitation problem caused by the disposal of wastedacids used in chemical descaling processes;

b. The apparatus of the invention may bedisposed directly in front ofthe apparatus for the next treatment, such as a wire stretcher so thatthe layout of the plant can be simplified;

c. The method and apparatus of the invention provide a highly improveddescaling efficiency which provides the finished wire material with afine surface and presents the tools for working the resultant wirematerial from becoming damaged in shorter operation;

- d. The apparatus may be positioned so as to directly receive the wirematerial delivered from a hot rolling mill so that the productivity isremarkably increased as compared with a chemical descaling process withwhich it is required to once displace the hot roller wire material outof the streamline of the successive treatments;

e. The apparatus and method of the invention are entirely free from theproblem of hydrogen brittleness as caused by chemical descalingprocesses;

f. The apparatus may be operated at the linear velocity of the wirematerial of up to 200 meters per minute;

g. The brushing wire wheels can be so adjusted that they are not ofcontact with the wire material in the case where the latter is one whichhas been treated by a chemical process; and

h. The apparatus utilizes a simplified construction so that theapparatus can be economically manufactured.

What is claimed is: 1. An apparatus for removing the scale produced onthe peripheral surface of a wire material during the hot rollingthereof, comprising:

at least three brushing wire wheels disposed in angularly spacedrelationship with each other for brushing contact with the peripheralsurface of the wire material and in spaced relation with each other inthe direction of wire advancement;

each of said wire wheels being disposed with its plane of rotationinclined at an angle with respect to the run of the wire material andarranged such that the wire wheel is in contact with the peripheralsurface of the wire material substantially at the central point of thewidth of the common peripheral surface of the wire wheel and that theradius of the wire wheel included in a transverse plane andpassinghthrough the point of contact between thewire w eel and the wirematerial is in alignment with the radius of the wire material passingthrough said point of contact, said transverse plane extending radiallythrough said point of contact;

electric motors for rotating said wire wheels, each having an outputshaft on which one of said wire wheels is rigidly mounted for rotationthereby;

rod members for supporting the respective wire means foradjusting theradial position of said wire wheels with respect to the axis of the wirematerial to thereby adjust the pressure at which the wirewheels are inbrushing contact with the wire material comprising screw members-eachbeing threadably mounted on said machine frame and operatively connectedto said arm for pivotally moving said arm to thereby adjust the angularposition of the corresponding rod member with respect to the run of saidwire material;

plurality of sheaves disposed upstream of said brushing wire wheels andarranged so as to define I a meandering path of travel along which thewire material is caused to move, said path of travel being curved in atleast two radial directions of said wire material for subjecting thewire material to repeated bending in such directions so that loose scaleparticles are removed atthe point upstream of said brushing wire wheels;and

each of said wire wheels comprising a plurality of disc-like membersarranged substantially in laminated relationship with each other, thedisclike members with the exception of the opposite outer ones thereofbeing formed therein with a plurality of circumferentially spaced axialapertures adjacent the outer peripheral edges thereof, a plurality ofsubstantially U-shaped bundles of wire rods each having its intermediateportion of the U-shape extending through one of said axial apertures,the leg portions of each bundle extending radially outwardly through thegap between each adjacent pair of said disc-like members and beyond theouter peripheral edges thereof and terminating in said common peripheralsurface of the wire wheel, means for firmly fastening said disclikemembers together so that said wire bundles are firmly held in radiallyoutwardly extending positions between adjacent disc-like members, and acentral through-hole formed in the assembly of said disc-like membersfor receiving the output shaft of one of said electric motors.

1. An apparatus for removing the scale produced on the peripheralsurface of a wire material during the hot rollinG thereof, comprising:at least three brushing wire wheels disposed in angularly spacedrelationship with each other for brushing contact with the peripheralsurface of the wire material and in spaced relation with each other inthe direction of wire advancement; each of said wire wheels beingdisposed with its plane of rotation inclined at an angle with respect tothe run of the wire material and arranged such that the wire wheel is incontact with the peripheral surface of the wire material substantiallyat the central point of the width of the common peripheral surface ofthe wire wheel and that the radius of the wire wheel included in atransverse plane and passing through the point of contact between thewire wheel and the wire material is in alignment with the radius of thewire material passing through said point of contact, said transverseplane extending radially through said point of contact; electric motorsfor rotating said wire wheels, each having an output shaft on which oneof said wire wheels is rigidly mounted for rotation thereby; rod membersfor supporting the respective wire wheels in the above-stated positions,said rod members extending substantially parallel to the run of saidwire material, and each of said rod members having an inner end rigidlysecured to one of said electric motors in an outer end portion extendingthrough a machine frame of said apparatus, said outer end portion beingpivotally mounted on said machine frame and having an arm rigidlyconnected to the outer end of said outer end portion and extendingsubstantially parallel with said machine frame; means for adjusting theradial position of said wire wheels with respect to the axis of the wirematerial to thereby adjust the pressure at which the wire wheels are inbrushing contact with the wire material comprising screw members eachbeing threadably mounted on said machine frame and operatively connectedto said arm for pivotally moving said arm to thereby adjust the angularposition of the corresponding rod member with respect to the run of saidwire material; a plurality of sheaves disposed upstream of said brushingwire wheels and arranged so as to define a meandering path of travelalong which the wire material is caused to move, said path of travelbeing curved in at least two radial directions of said wire material forsubjecting the wire material to repeated bending in such directions sothat loose scale particles are removed at the point upstream of saidbrushing wire wheels; and each of said wire wheels comprising aplurality of disc-like members arranged substantially in laminatedrelationship with each other, the disc-like members with the exceptionof the opposite outer ones thereof being formed therein with a pluralityof circumferentially spaced axial apertures adjacent the outerperipheral edges thereof, a plurality of substantially U-shaped bundlesof wire rods each having its intermediate portion of the U-shapeextending through one of said axial apertures, the leg portions of eachbundle extending radially outwardly through the gap between eachadjacent pair of said disc-like members and beyond the outer peripheraledges thereof and terminating in said common peripheral surface of thewire wheel, means for firmly fastening said disc-like members togetherso that said wire bundles are firmly held in radially outwardlyextending positions between adjacent disclike members, and a centralthrough-hole formed in the assembly of said disc-like members forreceiving the output shaft of one of said electric motors.